Grain-binder



model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. E. G. WATROUS.

GRAIN BINDER. No. 500,008. 'Patente'dNov. 21, 1893.

WI T NESSQS INVEN T OR W, 1M4 y? 6.

zLrA TTORNEY 'UNrTED STATES,

PATENT Qrricn.

EARL G. /VATROUS, OF SMITHS MILLS, ASSIGNOR TO THE Vi ALTER A. WOODMOWING AND 'REAPING' MAOHINEOOMPANY, OF" HOOSIOK FALLS, NEW

YORK.

e nAl NF-BIN ER.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 509,008, datedNovember 21, 1893;

' Application filBd Angnst 12,1886. steam. 210,679. (ModeL) To all whomit may concern).-

Be it known that I, EARL G. WATROUS, of Smiths Mills, in the county ofChautauqua and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements inGrain-Binders, of which the following description, in connection withthe accompanying two sheets of drawings, constitutes a specification.

. miliar with the art that it has hitherto been p of the cord-holder andcutter, with a vertical This invention relates .more particularly to theknotting, grasping, and band severingdevices of automatic grain binders,and has for its-object the simplification of these parts.

To this end it consists more essentially of the combination with'arevolving knotter of a stationary grasper so formed as to give therequisite amount of twine to theknotter to wrap the hook. It is wellknown to those fafound necessary to move the knotter toward thecord-holder, or the latter toward the former, when the loop is beingmade in the bands to provide suflicient slack in the grasper end of theband. As in my devices, this movement of either the grasper or knotteris obvi ated, and allmechanism to produce such.result done away with,the advantage of the invention is apparent.

.My invention further consists in certain other details of constructionand combinations of parts as will be more fully hereinafter describedand pointed out in the claims.

.My binding apparatus may be attached to a harvester so that theknotting apparatus will be either above or below the binding platform.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown the knotting apparatus locatedabove the binder table, and the needle adapted to ascend from beneaththe binding table or platform.

In the drawingsfln which similar letters of reference indicate likeparts, Figure l is a side elevation, only so much of the bindingapparatus being shown as is necessary to illustrate my invention. Fig.2is a top plan view of the cord holder and cutter, the knotter, andthebreast-plate. Fig. 3 is a front elevation cross section through theknotter driving disk.

lever. Fig. 5 is a rear side elevation of the same. Fig. 6 isa sideelevation of stationary member of the cord-holder. Fig. 7 is an endelevation of the same. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a portion of thebreast-plate andthe tucker. Fig. 9 isa sectional view of the knotter.Fig. 10 is a view showing the shape of the cam on the kno'tter drivingdisk, which cam is shown extended in a straight line, and is for thepurpose of determining the various positions of .the knotter. Fig. 11 isan end elevation of the grasper lever. Figs. 12 to 16 inclusive areviews illustrating the formation of the knot. Fig. 17 is a sideelevation of the knotter: driving-disk. Fig. 18 is a perspective of thegrasper lever, having a knife, stationary therewith, attached thereto.

A is the intermittently operatedreciproeating binder arm shaft to whichmotion is imparted from some suitable part of the harvester in any wellknown way.

B is the binder-arm or needle secured rigidly to the shaft A, and isadapted to the band to the knotter.

L is the breast-plate.

P is the knotter driving disk, and is secured to the intermittentlyoperated binder shaft 0, to which onecomplete revolution is given toeach operation of the binder.

K is thecord-placer.

Both the cord-placer and the breast-plate are made preferably of thinsheet. metal, in order that the knot may be tied as closely as possibleto the bundle.

B is the knotter-hook. Its spindlehas a bearing in the knotter-frame A,andcarries at its upper end, rigidly secured thereto, the bevel pinionQ and the delay-shoe S.

The driving disk P is provided with a segdeliver mental rack near itsperiphery which is of a 4 reference to the knotter.

ward end of'which is free and plays up through a slot h in the upper jawd", as clearly shown in Fig. 9. The lower side of the forward end 70 ofthe spring K" is hooked to catch the ends of the band, and the forwardend of the spring K" is beveled so that as the cords enter between thejaws g and d, the spring will be forced up to permit the bands to pass,when it will afterward clamp the ends against the lower jaw g. The loop,which has, by the revolution of the knotter, been wound around the jawsg and at", will in being pulled 01f the jaws impinge upon the upper partof the spring K, as shown in Fig. 16, and theends of the band will bethereby firmly held in place between the jaws until the knot is tied.

The breast-plate L is suitably slotted .to

permit the needle to pass, as at M. From M,

the slot is narrowed, as at f, to more surely guide the band to theproper position with aroundfromf at g,-in-the direction the bandsarecarried by the knotter hooks. From g-the slot is curved around, as atN, to the more readily permit the knot to be stripped from :the hooklbythe stress of the outgoing-sheaf. The=slot in the breast-plateterminates in the "opening 0, against the ends of which'theswingingmember of the cutter abuts, to open 'and 'close theshear-blades. When the knife is used in lieu of the shear-blades therectangular opening 0 is obviously unnecessary.

The essential features of theforin of the slot in the breast-plate arethat it should be wider at M, to permit the ascentrof the needle;should. be narrowed at f to guide the band into the desired positionwith reference.

'to the knotter, and that it should then sweep around so that when theknotter has performed about three-quarters of a revolutionthe slotshould'point in the same direction as the jaws of the knotter.

The tucker isadapted'to so confine the twine that when the knottercommences to.

revolve the bands will be surely held so that they will be wrappedaroundthe hooks.

A is the tucker lever. It is fastened at its upper end to the elbowlever B by-a bolt 5 vided with a cam- 0 which in the revolution whichpasses through a segmental slot in-the lowerend of the lever B. -Bythese means 'theadjustment of the tucker is effected. The elbowlever ispivoted to the frame of the machine at a and carries at its upper endthe friction roller D The driving disk Pis profastened to the lever A,as shown in Fig. 1,v

or it may be formed integral with A It extends toward the knotter atabout right an- The slot curves.

gles-to the lever A and is notched, as shown at 2'. This notch isadapted to receive the cord, and when the tucker is moved forward by thecam 0 which occurs'somewhat prior to the revolution of the knotter, thecord is confined in the openingj betweenthe tucker and the edge of theslot in the breast-plate, as shown at Fig. 8. In this way the cord issurely caught by the knotter and --wound around the jaws. This notch iin the tucker prevents the cord from being pushed away from the jaws ofthe knotter, and its importance will be readily apparent to any oneskilled in the art.

U is the grasper lever. Itis elbow-shaped, as shown, and is pivoted tothe frameV at the elbow of the lever. The upper arm .U carriesa frictionrollerT mountedrthereomwhich friction roller traverses a'cam'ggroove 'II formed on the face of the-.knotter driving disk. The lower endo'f thelever U is :bent outwardly-therefrom, and is formedintoa curve fromthepivoted point-offattachment of the lever U to the frameVasacenter.Thelower part of the lever 'U carries'the-bandsevering devices. Thelower horizontal arnrof the cord-holder isdesignated lc'i'n thedrawings.

A fixed shear-blade'r is rigidly attached to the lever U, and may beprovided with a cutting edge. Another shear-blade m is pivotedto thefixed shear-blade and has a dependent arm 0 which extends downwardlyinto the transverse opening-in the breastplate. It will be evidentthatas the lever U reciprocates, the arm o striking one :edge of theopening 0 will open the shear-blades to receive the twine,and strikingthe otherend of the slot will close the-shear+blades:to sever the band.

In Fig. 18 I have shown a stationary knife 0 attached tojthe lever U.The forward end of this knife is'provided with asharpened edge, whichbeing moved against the bands sever them. It is obvious thatwhenthisknife is used in lieu of the shear blades, thetransverse openingOmay be done away with.

W is -the-stationary member of the cordholder. Itis rigidly bolted tothe frame. Its lower portion is formed-seas to 'be 'concentric to thelimb of the leverU. It is made with two lips or flanges w w, in thegroove 2) between which the limb or tongue plays. The lip ,w, or the onefarthest fromthe knotter, has

a hooks formed thereon'for the-purpose hereinafter described. The tongue70 is formed with a shoulder y, which, when the lever U is swung awayfrom the part W, receives the cord delivered by the needle, and whenvthe lever U is moved inwardly carries the cord in between the lips orflanges w w. The lower limb of the lever U carries also .asecondshoulder Z, which, bearingagainst the cord as the lever is swung inward,surely carries the cord beyondthe hooks. The shoulders y Z are on theopposite sidesof the flange w. The purpose of the'hooks is to preventthe cord being drawn out of the hold of the grasper ICC by the rearwardmovement of the lever U- This is very important, inasmuch as'it isnecessary that the leverUbe swung backwardly at the commencement of therevolution of the knotter, in order to allow sufficient slack inthe-grasper end of the band to wrap thehook. Itisof course immaterialwhether the knife 0 be attached to the fixed member W or to the swingingmember U. If attached to the former, a "shoulder m should be formed onthe lever U- between the cord-holder and the grasper,-to force the bandagainst the knife "V; and iftheknife is carried on the lever U,

the shoulder should be formed on the stationary member of thecord-holder. It is obvious that for the purposes'of the presentinvention thesethree devices are fully equivalents,

and it'matters not which one is employed. The cord is held in thegrasper by being passed between the tongue k and the groove '0, and'alsoby being kinked or bent-over the lip-or flange w.

It-is also evident from the previous description, taken in connectionwith the drawings, that the bands being severed between the knotter andthe grasper, and

while the grasper end of the band is inthe holdof the grasper, a shortremnantof twine will .be' left in the grasper from the previouslyboundbundle. Asthese remnants or short ends accumulate in the grasper,they are forced outwardly therefrom by the new end of the-band caught,which new end is forced against the old end by the tongue is, as it isevident that when enough ends have accu- Y mulated to fill the grasper,one of these old ends will be displaced by theentrance of the s new. Thenew end ofthe band is pressed by the-tongue is against these remnants,and the security of the hold of the grasper thereby increased. As theknotter commences to revolve and at that time when slack is required inthe grasper end of the band, with which to 7 wrap the hook, the knotterdriving disk actuates thegrasper lever to open the grasper.

The cordis prevented from slipping laterally out of thegrasper-by thehook s on the stationary member'of the cord holder,'but the cord is freeto slip or slide-through the grasper to give-slack for the wrapping ofthe hook. A sufficient amount of slack twine to wrap the hook maybeprovided by this construction,

but it will be obvious that if no other means areprovided the band willhave to be severed at a'sufficient distance from the grasper toward theknotter, to prevent the withdrawal of the cord from the grasper, as thecord is caused to slip through the grasper by the wrapping'of the-hook.5 The guides, q and t, act to furnish a further'amount of slackto theknotter, and by thisemployment it is possible to sever the cordnearerthe grasperand consequentlyleave a shorter amount of cord in thelatter. The guides q and t answer an addi- =tional purpose, as will behereinafterdescribed.

' -attached to or formed integral with the sta- A curved guideqisattached-to the lever U, and an oppositely'disposed curved piece istionary member-W of-the cord-holder. When the grasper is closed thesetwo guides q and 25 make a V-shaped groove in which the cord runningfrom the grasper lies, and by which it is the better guided into aproper position with reference to the knotter hook. These guides q and talso act to give slack to the knotter to wrap the hook, as will be nowexplained. The cam groove I is so formed thatit will, during therevolution of the disk, till the segmental rack thereon comes in meshwith the pinion Q, hold the grasper closedz' When, however, the knottercommences to revolve, the cam swings the tongue is backwardly in drawnback by such movement until it catches on the hook s, which prevents thecord from being withdrawn from between the lips to and w. The shoulderto on the tongue is car:

ries the cord, when the grasper is shut some-- what beyond the hook s;and as the-latter is somewhat nearer the knotten-a certain amount ofslack is thereby provided. As,

however, the cord passesfrom between the lips or flanges m 1.0 up over;the guides q and t,

in the groove formed between'them'tothe knotter, when the knotter startsandthe lever=U- is swung away from the member W; the cord is free toslip downthe curvedsides of the guides t and q, and the bow or arch or.

knot in the cord provides more slack to wrap the hook. The amount ofslack providedis determined by the size or height ofthe guides t and q.When a knife is used attached to the .swinging lever U, the knife may beformed as to constitute the guideqa The guide t may also be formedintegral with the member-W of the cord-holder. The member W is securedto the breast-plate by means of a bolt passing through aslot in theholder W. By this construction the holder W may be adjusted withreference'to the lever U.

The knotter spindle is provided with a delay shoe S,-havingthe-delay"surfacesp"p"'. The delay surface 17' disk P-until the knotterpinion comes into engagem ent with the segmentalrack on the disk. Theshape of the rim J isjillustratedin Fig. 10. The rim is cut away at a topermitthe revolution of the knotter hook. The pinion runs out ofengagement with the rackatb and-the delay surface 19 rides subsequentlyon th e raised portion between 1) and c, in which position it is held bythe stress of the outgoing sheaf, and

when in this'position the hookpoints-in-that direction most advantageousto the stripping rides on the rim J on i of the loop from the knotter.*Theraised part Y c then turns the hooks-in adirection-atright angles tothe-slot-in the breast-plate,readyfor the result aimed atw Having nowdescribed my invention, what the succeeding bundle. The knotter thus hasz,disk,.ofaigrasper lever pivoted onthe-knot- 1 claimas new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a grainbinder, a grasper formed with a fixedrand a swingingmember, said fixed member being providedwith a groovein which a tongueof the swinging member is confined and moves longitudinally, ashoulderon the tongue of the swinging-member to carry the cord into the groove,auda hook or catch on the .stationarymember to prevent the withdrawal ofthe cord during the retrograte movement of the swinging member to carrythe cord into zthe groove, substantially as-andfor -the purposespecified.

-2. In a grain binder, the combination with theknotter frame and theknotter driving ter-rframe, a cam groove on the. disk, tan arm1,on-thegrasper-lever taking into the cam groove a second arm .on thegrasper lever, curved --concentrically with theaxis of movement of thelever, and a grooved stationary member .of the cord holder in which thecurvedarm of thegrasper lever is confined and reciprocates,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. Ina grain binder,,a grasperformed ofa .fixedandaswinging member, thefixed member provided with-a, groove in which the tongue of theswingingmember moves longitudinally,

- ahook on the fixed memberto prevent the withdrawal of the twine by theretrograde movement of the tongue, a shoulder on the tongue to carry:theband or ;cord within the groove, and a-secondshoulder on theswinging member tocarry-the cord beyond thehook on the fixed member,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4;. The combination with the knotter and grasper relatively immovabletoward .each other,-said grasper formed of a stationaryandswinging-member between Whichthe cord is -confined,;of a lug attached-to the swinging member between the gripping device and the knottenandadapted to take up a bow or .arch in,;the cord as the grasper is closed,and to release thesame as the grasper is opened, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

5. The combination of a-revolving knotter .and a grasper, immovabletoward one another, said grasper formed of a fixed and reciprocatingmember, of a curved lugonthe stationary-member and a curved lugonthereciprocatinginember, to make a V-shaped guide for the twine, wherebythe latter isguided with precision to the knotterwhen the grasper visclosed, and slack ,is provided to wrap the hook when'the grasper isopened, substantially as andfor the purposevspecified.

6. The-combination with a grasper formed of a fixed and a reciprocatingjaw, said fixed jaw being provided with a groove open at .each end, inwhich the-swinging jaw reciprocates and is confined, and a cuttingapparatus carried on the swinging jaw, and adapted to sever both bandsbetween the knotter and reciprocating member, curved guides attached tothe reciprocating and fixed member, and

adapted when the grasper is closed to take upa bow or arch between thecord-holder or grasperandtheknotter, and theknotter drivingdiskadaptedto open the grasperas the knotter commences to revolve, toswing theguides away from .each other, whereby the bow or arch of, cord takenupfurnishesslack in thegrasper'end of the bandto wrapthe :hook,substantially as and-for the purpose specified.

-8. A knotter consistingof-two igid radial jaws,in combinationwithavspring loop catch between the jaws, said loop catch adapted whenconfiningthe cord to project through a slot in the upper jaw, wherebytheiwith drawal of the loopvover the hooks presses on the spring to holdthe twine between the jaws substantially as and ;for the purposespecified.

9. The combination-with the knotter and its pinion, of a delay shoe onthe knotter spindle having tWo delay surfaces, theknotter drivingdislghaving two tracks to engage thedelay surfaces,the one to 1imitthe.retrograde movement of the knotter,and the other to holdthe knotter atright angles to the cord, and a cam incline unitingthe tracks,substantially-asand for the purpose specified.

10. The combination vwith the lever U, of the shear-bladesrcarriedthereon, one of said shear-blades being pivoted with respect to theotheraud adapted tooperate therewith,

the breasteplate having a transverse opening anda dependent arm from thepivoted blade taking intothe transverse opening, substantially asandforthe purpose specified.

11. The combination with the revolving knotter and its pinion of theknotter driving disk provided with a segmental rack adapted to drive theknotter about three-quarters of a revolution, a delaycshoe on theknotterspin- ICC dle having two delay surfaces, a rim on-the drivingdisk having two planes united by a cam incline, to limit theretrogrademovement of the knotter bystress ofthe outgoing sheaf, to then turn theknotter and hold it in position for the succeeding bundle, as and forthe purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereto subscribed my name, at Smiths Mills,New York,

this 14th day of September, AD. 1885.

EARL G. WATR-OUS.

In presence of,-

FRANKLIN SCOTT, J OHN ,CARLETON.

